MetroSonus wrote:I don't hunt, but I figure unless you're a gun nut, how "deep" you get is determined by how much time you spend doing it, as I guess at that point, it's more like camping.

That's what I kind of heard (could be wrong): like any hobby involving any gear (camping / hiking / fishing and other outdoors stuff is another one of those, come to think of it), it's possible to go gear crazy and get wacky on clothing and accessories etc.

I know with hiking, though, you don't need super expensive everything. It definitely costs something to enter, but it's pretty much a one time outlay for most of it except for stuff like mosquito repellent which you'll need to replace every now and then. Hiking boots, clothes, backpacks, etc. they usually last a *long* time, you don't need to chase the latest model.

Most likely hunting's the same.

The other thing that I guess can whack people with hunting is that many states charge *huge* fees for out of state hunting permits (as in several hundred dollars). That's a bit of a contrast to hiking, where at worst (popular national park entrance fees) we're talking maybe $30, with a huge amount of hiking trails out there costing no money at all.

There's a park by the Chattahoochee river 5 minutes from my work. This is one of the trails, looks like something out of a fantasy book with the soft fall light.Bridge and Stairway by ChristianRock, on Flickr

A shoe someone left in another river park trail (there's 3 within 3 within 10 minutes of work). The sun just happened to be shining upon it. I thought it would make a nice black and white photo.A Shoe Left Behind by ChristianRock, on Flickr

Another one at the park, showcasing the soft afternoon light (it was a late lunch walk )The Bench by ChristianRock, on Flickr

Some of you saw this on my facebook, but I thought I'd post it here. Last Friday up to Saturday we had the biggest snow Atlanta has seen since I've moved to the US in 1993 (when Miek was a wee lad).

It was absolutely gorgeous. So of course I took pictures. The first one came out really good and it was totally unexpected. I was running out of battery so I was just taking snaps in JPEG mode without even looking at the pictures I took. I added a film profile later in RawTherapee and that was basically it.

I should do photography lunch walks too.. however, the city here has been photographed to death.. however, that should be a challenge to me to find more unique subject matter, to look for the undiscovered within the over exposed, the sublime within the subtle..

chin stroke.

Oh CR I those on FB. I was thinking about driving up in a week so my son could see snow, but I heard things are already inching up into the 40's.

A brit once told me that English walking trails are protected by law so that a property owner cannot obstruct any of them, no matter where on the owner's land they happen to be. Said brit further claimed that hikers have organised so as to make sure all the trails are regularly travelled and logged, because if they aren't the Baron can claim they have become disused and close them to the public. Treu?

It appears this is true according to the Wiki, but Purity probably has the bird's eye answer. The rights there are much better than here. :(

In this area of Florida, "hiking" isn't the greatest in some ways (basically, summers suck weather wise and a lot of the hikes around here are walk in the woods type stuff, or boardwalks through swamps). Walking undeveloped beach parks, or mangrove boardwalks and whatnot, is nice though (no real gear needed there either).

We're also pretty high up on the ranks of birding states. We've got a fair share of odd yet purty looking critters like the below roseate spoonbill (taking at Ding Darling sanctuary) so I can see why. Judging from the lens size I see on some cameras at birding sites, that is *not* the cheapest hobby to get into.

I think Fla's great for sightseeing & nature viewing. I've been to the Everglades twice; once before Andrew, once after. I'd much rather spend time inland than the beach. Next time I visit, I'm gonna see Myakka and hopefully Canaveral. I'd dearly love to see a Falcon booster stick a landing.

Tamron and Sigma have been releasing some affordable (under 1000 dollars), good quality lenses that go up to 600mm. They're a bit slower as far as the aperture goes, but with today's cameras looking great at ISOs that are even over 10,000 - that's basically what you need. it's not as expensive a hobby as it used to be, where you had to fork out several thousand dollars for anything decent at 500mm or above.

christianrock wrote:Tamron and Sigma have been releasing some affordable (under 1000 dollars), good quality lenses that go up to 600mm. They're a bit slower as far as the aperture goes, but with today's cameras looking great at ISOs that are even over 10,000 - that's basically what you need. it's not as expensive a hobby as it used to be, where you had to fork out several thousand dollars for anything decent at 500mm or above.

True, the Tamron and Sigma are fine enough these days. There's also now cheaper "superzoom" point and shoots that might do in a pinch.

Actually the lens I have for widlife isn't *that* bad in cost -- the Mark II Canon 100-400. (Since my body is APS-C you get more like 640mm range. Yay more range. ) The spoonbill is an example of a photo with that lens, so was the eclipse shots. Runs slightly under $2000. Not "nothing" but not yegads super expensive either like previous super-teles out there.

Of course, the basic tool of birding if you don't care about photos is binoculars. I understand you can get a pretty okay basic model for not much cash.

You will of course see some people with super-lenses (and high powered telescopes) at birding and other wildlife sites. Even there, probably a lot of those people rent, I bet.